Well packer



A. PRANGER' WELL PACKER May 30, 1939.

Filed June 8,- 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 30, 1939. PRANGER 2,160,515WELL PAGKER Filed June s, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 YA v 25 RM A r .4'wherein:

Patented May 30, 1939 "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE wan. racxsa tion ofDelaware Application June a, 1936, Serial No. 84,041

3 Claims.

clear of particles of hard and gritty substances whereby to preventcutting of the valve and valve seat and at the same time allowingmaximum travel of the tubing through the packer for the setting of thepacking members before the closing of the valve is accomplished.

Another object is to secure the better and more 20 dependable sealingeffect between the valve and valve seat.

Afurther object is to provide improved means for holding together, asone assembly on the ,lpa'cker mandrel tube, the valve seat, rubber 25packing members, spacer, thimble, slip head,

slips, links, cage and friction spring members, whereby to make thewhole packer assembly relatively short and compact and at the same timepermit of a long valve lift and maximum travel of,

3 the tubing through the packer in placing and setting it in the wellcasing. I

Still another object of the invention is to improve the mandrelstructure whereby not only to strengthen the mandrel tube but to providea stop 35 under the slip head so as to normally support the packerassembly and act as a recovery ring, permitting jarring, if necessary.

Other objects and advantages to be attained will hereinafter more fullyappear in the follow- 40 ing specification.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings,in which an example of the invention is shown, and

Figure l is a view partly in elevation and partly in longitudinalsection of the upper portion of a packer constructed in accordance withthe invention, the parts being in their normal posi- 50 tions andcondition and the packer being shown in a well casing;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the lower portion of the packer;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, but show- 55 ing the parts intheir closed position and condition and the rubber packing members showncompressed and expanded transversely into sealing engagement with theinner face of the well casing; I

Figure 4 is a section taken substantially on the 5 line 4-4 of Figure 3;and

Figure 5 is a section taken on or about the line 55 of Figure 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the numeral l0 designates the well casingor tubular lining which is usually provided in the well hole and throughwhich the product from the well is taken in the usual manner.

The packer illustrated in the drawings comprises a body tube or mandrelll of considerably 1 longer length than the rubber packing members andcooperating metal parts assembly and also the slip mounting and anchorcage assemblies, for a purpose which will be more fully hereinafterdescribed. The lower end portion of the body v tube or mandrel II isattached to a standard coupling I! which, in practice, is employed toconnect the mandrel II with anchor tubing (not shown) of variouslengths, in some cases.

Sleeved to slide freely on the mandrel H is a tubular cage l3, said cagetube ['3 extending down to near the coupling l2 and having alongitudinal slot I4 extending nearly the entire length thereof, saidslot l4 communicating at its upper end with the horizontal relativelyshort slot I5 through which projects a gudgeon or key stud l6 providedon said mandrel ll. Normally, when said gudgeon or keystud i6 is locatedin the transverse slot l5 said cage tube l3 obviously moves endwise withsaid mandrel I I but if the mandrel ii is turned with relation to thecage tube lit to bring the gudgeon or key stud IS in line with thelongitudinal slot I4 endwise movement of said mandrel II and cage sleeve13 is possible independently of each other. Near the. 4 upper end of thecage tube l3 are peripheral lugs ll (preferably three in triangularspaced relation to each other) to each of which is secured the upper endportion of an outwardly bowed spring member l8, said spring members Itbeing attached at their lower ends to a spring rest I! in the form of acollar which is sleeved to slide freely on said cage tube I 3. Theoutwardly bowed cage springs l8. have a normal set so that the bilgedportions thereof always press against the adjacent inner face portionsof -the well casing l0 and with suflicient frictional resistance to holdthe cage i3 from both endwise and rotative movement unless said cage i3is interlocked with said mandrel II by the engagement of the gudgeon orkey stud IS in the slots M and I5.

Bifurcated lugs 2ll'are provided on the upper end portion of the cagei3, to which the lower end portions of link members 2| are pivotallyattached, as at 22, said link members being pivotally attached at theirupper ends, as at 23 to lugs 24 provided on the lower end portions ofslips 25.

The outer faces of the slips 25 are provided with the usual sharpenedgripping portions 26 to engage the inner face of the well casing Iiiduring the process of setting the packer in said casing. The slips haveinclined inner face por-- tions to slide upon correspondingly inclinedpor tions of the slip head 21, said slip head 21 having a marginallyundercut rib 28 on its inclined portion and the slip beingcorrespondingly provided with an undercut groove to slidably fit saidundercut rib. .In each of the ribbed portions 28 of the slip heads 21 isprovided a median longitudinal groove 29 into which is projected ahardened pin 30 provided on the cooperating slip 25. By the provision ofthe slot pin arrangement 29, 30, the slips are freely movable on thedove-tailed or marginally undercut ribs 28 of the slip head 21, but thedownward movement of the slips 25 on the slip head 21, or, upward andpin connection 29, 30 between the slip head and slips; the cage I3 isnormally supported in suspended relation from the slips 25 by the links2|. Preferably, the shoulder 3| on the mandrel II is provided by theupper end of a supplemental mandrel tube or tubular member 32 which issleeved on said mandrel II and welded thereto, by which construction notonly is the shoulder 3| conveniently provided but the lower end portionof the mandrel II is materially strengthened.

The upper end portion of the slip head 21 is counterbored and internallyscrew-threaded, as at 33, where it is secured to a correspondinglyexternally screw-threaded reduced lower end portion 34 of a thimble 35.The thimble 35 is provided with a series of apertures 36 afl'ordingcommunication between by-pass or fluid flow passages internally of thepacker and the space between the exterior of the packer and the wellcasing It. In the upper end portion of the thimble 35 is an annularchannel formed by a cylindrical inner wall portion 31 and a spaced outerupstanding flange 38, into which channel is fitted the lower portion 39of a rubber packing member 4|! whose upper end portion 4| is fitted in asimilar channel provided in a spacer member 42. Said channel of thespacer member42 is formed by the lower inner cylindrical portion 43 andan outer downwardly disposed annular flange 44 on said spacer member 42.The spacer member 42 is provided with an upper channel formed by itsinner cylindrical portion 45 and an outer upwardly disposed annularflange 46, in which upper channel the lower end portion 41 of a secondrubber packer member 48 is fitted, the upper end portion 49 of saidpacker member 48 being fitted in an annular groove provided therefor ina valve seat collar 50, the channel in which the portion 49 is fittedbeing provided Normally, the meeting ends of the cylindrical supportingportions 5|, 45, 43 and 31, of the metal members which support the upperpacking members and 48,.respectively, are spaced apart a limiteddistance to permit relative endwise movement of said metal supportingmembers 50, 42 and 35, whereby to permit endwise compression of saidpacking members 40 and 48 which causes lateral or transverse expansionof said members to make them contact peripherally with the inner face ofthe well casing upon the occurrence of which said spaced ends of theportions 5|, 45, 43 and 31, meet in contact with each other, therebypreventing further compression of said packing members 40 and 48.

To support the middle portions of the rubber packing members 40 and 48and prevent said portions from being squeezed and bulged into the 7spaces between the ends of the cylindrical portions 5|, 45, 43' and 31,of the metal supporting members of the packer assembly, metal bushingrings 53 are embedded in said packing members 43 and 48, said bushingrings 53 being of a width wider than the distance between the spacedends of the parts 5|, 45, 43 and 31; and to hold said packing rubberassembly together, that is to say, to prevent endwise separation fromtheir normal positions, the parts 50, 48, 42, 40 and 35 are linkedtogether by longitudinally elongated semi-cylindrical plates 54 havingflanges 55, 56, at their opposite ends, said plates being interposedbetween the mandrel tube and the respective metal parts 50, 42 and 35 ofthe packer assembly and said parts 50, 42 and 35, respectively, beingprovided with longitudinally recessed portions 51 to accommodate saidplates 54 and hold them against rotatlve movement independently of saidparts 50, 42 and 35. Said plates 54, of which there are preferably threearranged in triangular relation to each other, space said parts 50, 42and 35 concentrically from the mandrel whereby to provide three fluidflow passages 58 between said parts, the flanged end portions 55 of saidplates 54 being fitted in recesses 55' provided therefor in said valveseat collar 58 and the lower flanged portions 56 of said plates 54 beingengaged under a shoulder 55 provided therefor on the thimble 35, itbeing this engagement of said flanged portions 55 and 58 with the parts50 and 35 that enables the plate members 54 to hold the packer assemblytogether.

At the upper end of the valve seat collar 50 is an internal bevelledseat portion 59 for the reception of a corresponding seat portion 60 ofa valve head 6| provided on the lower end portion of a coupling member62 into the lower end portion of which the upper end portion H of themandrel tube H is secured by screwthreaded attachment.

In order to secure a more perfect sealing effect when the portion 50 ofthe -valve head 6| enters the seat portion 59 of-the valve seat collar58, it is preferable to provide said portion 80 of the valve head 6|with an annular insert 63 of a resilient material, preferably Duprene, anow well known product having the resilient qualities of rubber with thefurther advantage of being resistant to the action of oils and fluidsdetrimental and destructive to the ordinary rubber materials. a

In practice, in the normal relative positions of theparts of the packerprevious to its application in the well and while it is being placed inthe well and removed therefrom, the mandrel II is relatively elongatedso that, normally, the valve head 6| is a considerable distance abovethe valve seat collar 50 which is a part of the packing rubber assembly,this relative elongation of the mandrel ll between the coupling 52 andvalve seat collar 50 gives a longer stroke in the closing of the valvethan is ordinarily provided in packer structures, whereby to preventnozzling, which is of material advantage because more time is given forthe flowing fluid in the well to wash the seating portions of the valve.

seat collar 50 and valve head 6| whereby to minimize the possibility ofthe lodgement on said seating portions of particles of hard substanceswhich might prevent proper seating of the valve or injure the valveseating faces. There is a further advantage in the increased stroke ofthe mandrel I l in that greater force and effect is attained shouldoccasion require that the packer be jarred in running it into the wellor recovering it from the well.

In applying the packer to a well casing, the parts being in normalposition and the gudgeon or key stud l6 of the mandrel ll being in thehorizontal slot I5 of the cage l3, and the string of stem tubing (notshown) being attached to the upper end portion of the collar 62, thepacker is lowered into the well until the rubber packing assemblyportion is approximately in a position 12 inches to 18 inches above thepoint at which it is desired topack off the casing. As the springelements I 8, due to their engagement with the well casing l0, hold thecage I 3 from turning the tubing is given a part turn to the left so asto move the gudgeon or key stud l6 out of the horizontal slot l5 andinto line with the vertically elongated slot M in the cage l3. Thetubing is then further'lowered and as the cage I3 is he'd by the springsl8 the slip head 21, under the "weight of the rubber packing assemblythereabove and attached thereto, through the thimble 35, as at 34,movesdownwardly with themandrel II and 'with relation to the slips 25whereby to spread said slips outwardly into contact with the adjacentwall portion of the well casing 10. As soon as the slip head 21 haswedged the slips 25 into firm gripping contact with the well casing I0,further downward movement of the-rubber packing assembly is prevented,whereupon the mandrel ll continues on downwardly until the valve head 6iengages the valve seat collar 50 at the upper end of the rubber packingassembly. After the valve head 6| is seated on the valve seat collar 50the weight of the string of tubing above the collar 62 or the forcetransmitted through said tubing causes the endwise compression of therubber packing members 48 and 40 and their outward expansion intoperipheral contact with the adjacent face portions of the well casing inwhereby the well casing I 0 is packed and the flow of the fluid throughthe by-pass passages of the packer is stopped because of the seating ofthe valve head 6! on the valve seat collar 50.

To withdraw the packer or raise it to a higher position in the wellcasing I I! it is only necessary to lift the string of tubing and, ofcourse, correspondingly lift the attached mandrel ll, until its externalannular shoulder 3| engages the lower end of the slip head 21, whereuponthe slip head 21 and the packer assembly thereabove move upwardly withsaid mandrel II,

originally set in the casing Ill.

upwardly with the other parts because of the.

link connection 2| between the upper end of the cage'i3 and said slips25.

Should it be desired to reset the packer at a lower position inthev wellcasing II] the string of tubing and the mandrel l I are raised as-just 7above described until the gudgeon l6 has reached the upper end of theslot M in the cage l3, whereupon the tubing is turned to the right tomove said gudgeon into the horizontal slot l5 of 1 the cage l3. Thetubing is then lowered to bring the packer to the desired lower positionwhere it is reset in the same manner in which it was For the attachmentof a fishing tool, should occasion require, the coupling member 62, asshown, is provided with a series of annular shoulder portions 64. It ishere further noted, that the structure may be modified in many respcctswithin the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims. The invention, therefore, is not limited to the specificconstruction and arrangement shown. For example, a larger number of therubber packing members 40, 48, may obviously be employed in the packerassembly, or, in some cases, only a single rubber member; and, ofcourse, the tie plates 54 will be accordingly increased or decreased inlength, as the case may be, and the intermediate spacer members 42correspondingly increased or decreased in number.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a well packer, a mandrel tube having provision at its upper endfor attachment to an.

operating extension, an annular valve head on said mandrel, near itsupper end, a packer assembly sleeved on said mandrel with fluid fiowpassageways therebetween, said packer assembly comprising an upper valveseat collar and a lower thimble member, upper and lower rubber packermembers secured respectively to the upper valve'seat collar and thelower thimble member, an annular spacer member interposed between saidupper and lower rubber packer members and supporting the upper and lowerends of said packer members, respectively, the meeting ends of saidannular spacer member and said upper valve seat collar and said lowerthimble member being spaced apart under the support of said rubberpacker members in their normal form, said rubber packe members beingendwise compressible and transversely expansible with such compressionand expansion being limited by the meeting of the ends of said spacermember and said valve seat collar and thimble member, longitudinallydisposed tie members interposed between said mandrel tube and saidpacker assembly whereby to hold said assembly in spaced concentricrelation to said mandrel tube, said longitudinal tie members beingengaged at their upper and lower ends, respectively, with said uppervalve seat collar and said lower thimble member whereby to hold saidpacker assembly in its normal extended position but permitting endwisemovement of the elements of said assembly Whereby to compress and expandsaid rubber packing members, said thimble member having by-pass openingaffording communication between the internal flow passageways of saidpacker and the space in the well casing outside of the packer, a sliphead attached at its upper end to said thimble member whereby the one ismovable by and with the other and the packer assembly is supported onsaid slip heads, means on said mandrel for releasably supporting saidslip head in its normal raised position, slips slidably supported onsaid slip head whereby upon relative endwise movement of the slip headand slips said slips are wedged into gripping contact with the wellcasing, an anchor cage slidable endwise and rotatably on said mandreland having provision for frictional engagement with the well casing, apivotal link connection between said anchor cage and said slips, andmeans operable upon the relative rotation of said mandrel and saidanchor cage for locking them against relative independent endwisemovement and for releasing them from said look, at will.

2. In a well packer, a packing rubber assembly incombination with amandrel, said mandrel having an annular valve head thereon, said packerassembly comprising an upper valve seat collar having an annular seatingportion at its upper end for engagement of the valve head on saidmandrel, said valve seat collar having an annular channel on itsunderside, a thimble member having an annular channel on its upper side,an intermediate spacer member having correspondence channels on itsupper and lower sides, upper and lower rubbber packing members havingtheir upper and lower ends respectively fitted in the channels of saidupper valve seat collar, said lower thimble member'andsald intermediatespacer member, the meeting ends of the inner portions of said collar,thimble and spacer member being normally spaced apart and meeting uponendwise compression and lateral expansion of said rubber packer members,where-' by to restrict the compression and expansion of said rubberpacker members, longitudinal tie members interposed between said mandreland said packer assembly elements dngageable at their upper and lowerends with said upper valve seat collar and said lower thimble memberwhereby to hold said assembly together in normal endwise relation butpermitting movement of the elements toward each other wherebyto effectthe compression and expansion of said rubber packing members, by-passopenings in said thimble member to establish communication between flowpassageways extending through the interior of the packer and the spacebetween the well casing and exterior of the packer, and casing engaginganchor and wedge slip means movably supported on said mandrel below saidpacker assembly, whereby, upon the downward movement of said mandrelfrom normal position, said anchor and wedge slip means initially engagethe well casing and whereby, upon engagement of the valve head on saidmandrel with the valve seat collar of the packer assembly, said packerassembly is compressed to expand the rubber packing members in sealingengagement with the adjacent face portions of the well casing.

3. In a well packer, a packing assembly comprising endwise movable metalannular members, the upper member having an annular valve seat at itsupper end and an annular channel in its lower end portion, the lowermember comprising a thimble having an annular channel in itsupperportion, and its lower end attached to a slip head, a spacer memberintermediate said upper and lower members, said spacer member havingcorresponding annular channels at its upper and lower portions, rubberpacker members having reduced upper and lower end portions fittedrespectively in the channels of said annularmetal members, said packermembers having outwardly bilged middle portions, the inner wall portionsof said metal members of the assembly having their meeting end portionsnor mally spaced apart, annular members surrounding the spaced meetingportions of said metal members to support the upper packing members andprevent the deformation of said packer members and bulging thereof intothe spaces between said metal members, said metal members meeting withtheir said inner portions in contact when moved toward each other undersufllcient force to compress and outwardly expand said rubber packingmembers whereby to limit such compression and expansion and support saidmembers in such condition, longitudinal tie means for holding saidrubber packer assembly together but permitting relative movement of theparts to eflect the compression and expansion of said rubber packingmembers, with an anchor means movable on said mandrel and supported fromsaid packer assembly, and means for interlocking said mandrel and theanchor means and releasing them from such interlock, at will.

' ALBERT PRANGER.

